Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl [1]
After Emir Abdel-Kader, from the Marabout family, had saved 12,500 Christians from the hands of Muslim fanatics through his personal courage in 1860, France awarded him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor for this great deed. But Abd-el-Kader asked the Masonic League to take him into their midst.
The Henri IV Lodge in Paris first congratulated the courageous and noble Emir on his conduct during the terrible events. On behalf of the same lodge, the lodge “to the pyramids” brought about the admission of Abd-el-Kaders to the Freemasonry on June 18, 1864. But before that, the Muslim hero had been presented with a series of questions to be answered. Below we give these questions and their answers.
I. What are the duties of man to God?
“Man should,” replies Abd-el-Kader, “honour God Most High, diligently fulfill his commandments, approach him and strive diligently to imitate his qualities to the best of his ability, such as: compassion, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, generosity, wisdom, justice, benevolence, etc.; he should strive to imitate God’s deeds, to do his will, to receive his judgments willingly, to endure trials patiently; he should be convinced that no one can hinder what God has ordained for the future, and that all the good he enjoys is from God, the highest, the only, and the incomparable in the world.”
II. What duties does man have towards his fellow men?
“Man,” replied the Christian Savior, “should counsel his fellow man wisely, for things that are temporal and things that are eternal; he should help by instructing the ignorant, encouraging the lazy, protecting everyone, honoring the great without envy, feeling and caring for the small, bringing benefit and keeping harm at bay. All statutes rest on two foundations. The first is: praising God; the other: to have compassion for the creatures of this supreme God. Man should remember that his soul and that of his fellow men are of the same origin, and that only their shell, their robe, shows a difference. Every soul springs from a whole and unified spirit, which, as Eve sprang from Adam, is the origin of all souls. It is therefore good for man to love his essence in others.”
III. What duties does man have towards his soul?
“Man should purify his soul, free it from all vices and adorn it with virtues and merits. He should strive for a harmonious and excellent education in science, so that he can properly distinguish between sincerity and lies, between truth and error, between beautiful and ugly. The fruit of science is wisdom, and wisdom is the highest merit. Man should also harmoniously form courage and passion so that they are bridled and obey the commandments of wisdom, that is reason and the divine laws. Justice is the bridle of courage; Guided by it, he becomes bravery, beyond that he is daring, beneath that he is cowardice or weakness. A duty to the soul is also the care of the body; to neglect him altogether or to kill him is to fight against the Creator and his wisdom.”
IV. Is the soul immortal?
“Reason and divine law,” says the Emir, “agree that death, decay, disappearance, decay attaches only to the body, but the soul assigns neither corporeal nor accidental, not to divide nor diminish, neither to one place, still bound to an object and with no property of the body is to be assigned. A spiritual substance that is not composite,and ,therefore ,infinite and immortal is the soul.
V. Are all people equal before God?
“As beings, as men, they are equal before God, whatever their coverings, forms, and names; but they are unequal according to the degree of God’s satisfaction with them. For the traitor and liar is not like the faithful and upright, the vicious is not like the virtuous, the friend of widows and orphans is not like the one who harms and robs them. No, people are not judged equally before God, they are treated according to their worthiness. But as they are of the same origin, grace will reunite souls.”
VI. How do you understand the practice of tolerance and brotherhood?
“Man should seek sincerity in man’s profession, and nobility in his actions. He should not attack any followers of a religion or even force them to defect with a sword in his fist. Islam does not force anyone to leave their religion. But whoever recognizes the truth in faith and goodness in works, and sees a man erring and deviating from the right path, may he be kindly lead back and show him the path to truth. Man should benefit his brothers and protect them from evil. This is one of the most important duties, because the poor are numerous and those who strive for them almost want to succumb to the work.” —
Abd-el-Kader surrounds this core of his answers with extensive philosophical and ethical considerations, only to reach the conclusion that Freemasonry is the first institution of mankind. Anyone who does not profess Masonic principles must remain imperfect. The Arab Emir hopes that the royal art will one day be spread all over the world and that all peoples will then live together in peace and brotherhood.
(The circle.)
Note:
[1] A Mohammedan Freemason. [Ein muhamedanischer Freimaurer. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Lotusblüten 4, no. 27 (December 1894), 926-931]{This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}